Digital timer and time indicator drums therefor

ABSTRACT

A digital timer having a selector to set a selected period of time that the timer is to be operated by the drive motor for only that set period of time, the timer comprising a pair of indicator drums rotatably mounted to the timer frame by a shaft. The drums have a pinion gear disposed therebetween and operatively associated therewith so that one of the drums will cause incremental movement of the other drum in a timed relation to incremental movement of that one drum caused by a drive connection of that one drum to the timer motor.

United States Patent Flumm et al.

DIGITAL TIMER AND TIME INDICATOR DRUMS THEREFOR 1 1 Aug. 19, 1975 [73]Assignee: Robertshaw Controls Company,

Richmond v Primary Examiner-Edith Simmons .lackmon Attorney. Agent, orFirm-Candor, Candor & Tassone [22] Filed: Apr. 30, I974 A digital timerhaving a selector to set a selected pe- [52] Cl 58/125 C; 58/38; 58/395riod of time that the timer is to be operated by the [5 l] 'f Cl 3/06;G04b [9/02 drive motor for only that set period of time. the timer [58]Fleld Search 58/2 125 comprising a pair of indicator drums rotatably58/145 R mounted to the timer frame by a shaft. The drums have a piniongear disposed therebetween and opera- [56] References C'ted tivelyassociated therewith so that one of the drums UNITED STATES PATENTS willcause incremental movement of the other drum in 2,091.146 8/l937Hamilton 58/127 R a timed relation to incremental movement of that one2,459.10? 1/1949 Johnson i v 58/16 D drum caused by a drive connectionof that one drum 2,535,484 12/1950 Conroy i i r t i i 58/145 R the timermotor, 21 45,896 7/1953 Uhlig et a1. 58/125 C 1748.560 6/1956 Clark 5.58/125 C 9 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures 1 UTE TlM R I COOKING HOURS 42 APATENTED M181 9 I975 '4 K%UTE TiM% COOKING HOURS 42A PATENTED AUG! 9I975 SHEET 2 BF 5 FIG.3

' PATENTEDAUBVI 91975 3. 899,872

FIG. @5 FIG.12

DIGITAL TIMER AND TIME INDICATOR DRUMS THEREFOR This invention relatesto an improved digital timer and to improved time indicator drums forsuch a timer or the like.

Digital timers of both minute timing arrangement and cooking hourstiming arrangement for a range timer are fully disclosed and claimed inapplicants copending patent applications, Ser. Nos. 390,l l8. and390,024, both filed Aug. 20, 1973 and both assigned to the same assigneeto whom this application is assigned.

It is a feature of this invention to provide time indicating drums orwheels that can be utilized with such drive means of the digital timersdisclosed in such aforementioned patent application.

In particular, one embodiment of this invention provides a pair ofindicating drums rotatably mounted to the timer frame by a shaft meanswith a pinion gear means rotatably mounted to the frame means anddisposed intermediate the indicating drums and cooperating therewith sothat one of the drums will cause incremental movement of the other drumin a timed relation to incremental movement of that one drum when thesame is interconnected to the drive means of the timer arrangement. Thedrive means of the timer arrangement includes a pinion gear that mesheswith driven means of that one indicating drum that comprises a pluralityof pins extending in a circular array from that one drum substantiallyparallel to the axis of rotation thereof.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improveddigital timer having one or more of the novel features set forth aboveor hereinafter shown or described.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved indicatingdrum arrangement for such a timer or the like, the indicating drumarrangement of this invention having one or more of the novel featuresset forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

Other objects. uses and advantages of this invention are apparent from areading of this description, which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:

FIG. I is a front view of the improved digital timer of this invenntionutilized as a cooking range timer.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged. fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line2-2 of FIG. 1 and illustrates the clock mechanism of the range timer ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line44 of FIG. I and illustrates the minute digital timer arrangement of therange timer of FIG. I.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line5-5 of FIG. 1 and illustrates the cooking hours digital timerarrangement of the range timer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG.4.

FIG. 6A is a fragmentary, lefthand side view of the structureillustrated in FIG. 6 and is taken substantially in the direction of thearrows 6A6A of FIG. 6.

FIG. 6B is a fragmentary, righthand side view of the structureillustrated in FIG. 6 and is taken substantially in the direction of thearrows 6B6B of FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken substantially in thedirection of the arrows 7-7 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is an exploded side perspective view of the time indicating drumarrangement of the digital timer means of FIG. I.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 and illustrates in explodedperspective view of the other side of the indicating drum arrangement ofFIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 10l0 of FIG. 7 andillustrating the indicating drum arrangement for the minute timer meansof the range timer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 1l-] 1 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken on line l2I2 of FIG. I0.

While the various features of this invention are hereinafter illustratedand described as being particularly adaptable to provide a range timer,it is to be understood that the various features of this invention canbe utilized singly or in any combination thereof to provide digitaltimer means for other apparatus as desired.

Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, because the drawings are merely utilized toillustrate one of the wide variety of uses of this invention.

Referring now to FIG. I, the improved digital timer of this invention isgenerally indicated by the reference numeral and comprises a frame meansthat is generally indicated by the reference numeral 21 in FIG. 2 andformed from a pair of spaced apart frame plates 22 and 23 carrying adial and indicating plate 24 disposed behind a glass panel 25 borderedby a frame trim 26 as illustrated in FIG. I.

The range timer 20 includes a time-of-day clock means that is generallyindicated by the reference numeral 27, a minute digital timer means thatis generally indicated by the reference numeral 28 and a cooking hoursdigital timer means that is generally indicated by the reference numeral29.

The time-of-day clock means 27 is best illustrated in FIG. 2 andcomprises a selector shaft 30 rotatably mounted in the frame plates 22and 23 and projecting out of an opening 31 in the glass cover 25 tocarry a selector knob 32 on the outer end thereof, the selector shaft 30having a minute hand 33 fastened thereto and having a bushing 34rotatably mounted thereon and carrying the hour hand 35. The shaft 30has a gear 36 on the lower end thereof which is adapted to be driven bya gear train that is generally indicated by the reference numeral 37 inFIG. 2 and is interconnected to an output drive pinion 38 of anelectrical drive motor 39 so that when the timer motor 39 is operating,the same continuously drives the shaft 30 in a proper direction at theproper rate whereby the hands 33 and thereof indicate the time of day inrelation to a dial face that is generally indicated by the referencenumeral 40 in FIG. I and provided on the front plate 24 in aconventional manner, the rotating shaft 30 driving the hour bushing 34through a gear train arrangement that is generally indicated by thereference numeral 41 in FIG. 2.

Since the details of the parts and the operation of the clock 27 by thetimer motor 39 as well as for the drive from the timer motor 39 todigital timer indicating means is fully disclosed and described in theaforementioned copending patent applications, such copending patentapplications are incorporated herein by reference and thereby the fulldetails of the drive arrangement from the drive motor 39 to operate theclock 27 and the digital timer means 28 and 29 need not be described asthe same is not necessary to understand the novel features of thisinvention as such drive means does not form a feature of this invention.However, it is believed that sufficient details of such drive means willbe hereinafter set forth to fully understand the novel features of thisinvention.

Nevertheless, if one desires a more detailed description of thestructure and operation of the drive means for the digital timer means28 and 29 and the time-ofday clock means 27, reference can be made tothe description of such structure and operation in the aforementionedcopending patent applications.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the minute digital timer means 28 includes aselector shaft 42 rotatably mounted by bushing means 43 to the frameplate 22 and front plate 24 while projecting out of an opening 44 in theglass cover 25 so that a selector knob 42' can be fastened to the outerend thereof. The shaft 42 carries a gear 45 which is disposed in meshingrelation with a pinion gear 46 fastened to a shaft 47 which is rotatablymounted between the frame plates 22 and 23. The shaft 47 carries a gear48 that is adapted to drive a pair of time indicating dmms 49 and 50 ina manner hereinafter described when the gear 48 is rotated either by theselector shaft 42 being rotated by the operator to select a period oftime that the timer means 28 is to operate or by the gear 48 beingrotated by the timer motor 39 when a driving gear dog 51 is disposed inmeshing relation with the gear 48.

In particular, the driving gear dog 51 is loosely mounted on theselector shaft 42 and is normally urged downwardly into meshing relationwith the gear 48 by a compression spring 52. However, when the digitaltimer means 28 is in the zero or time run out position thereof, a latchmember 53 holds the driving dog gear 51 in a raised condition asillustrated in FIG. 4 so that the driving dog means 51 not only is notin meshing relation with the gear 48, but also a gear portion 54 of thedriving gear dog SI is out of meshing relation with a gear 55 that isfixed to a shaft 56 rotatably mounted between the frame plates 22 and 23and disposed in meshing relation with a gear train that is generallyindicated by the reference numeral 57 in FIG. 7 and directly driven bythe pinion gear 38 of the timer motor 39.

However, when the selector knob 42' is rotated in a direction to selecta period of time that will be indicated by the indicating drurns 49 and50 at the window area 58 formed in the front plate 24, such rotation ofthe shaft 42 moves the latch member 53 away from the driving gear dog 51so that the compression spring 52 can move the driving gear dog 51 downinto meshing relation with the gear 48 as well as into meshing relationwith the gear 55. Thus, the timer motor 39 will cause rotation of thedriving gear dog 51 and, thus, rotation of the gear 48 which causesincremental movement of the indicating drums 49 and 50 from the time setposition thereof back to their zero position and when such zero or timerun out position is reached, the driving dog 51 is moved upwardly inFIG. 4 by a spring 42' as latch means 42" is not moved to an unlatchingposition thereof to disengage the dog SI from the gear 48 and the gear55 so that the indicating drums 49 and 50 will remain in their zeroposition until again set in a time position by the selector shaft 42 aspreviously described, the latch means 53 being moved back into latchingposition with the dog 51 by the member 48.

The indicating drums 49 and 50 are respectively rotatably mounted on asingle shaft 59, FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 carried by a frame plate 60 mountedtransversely to the frame plates 22 and 23 whereby the indicating drums49 and 50 are disposed on opposite sides of the frame plate 60 asillustrated in FIG. 10.

A pinion gear member 61 is rotatably mounted to the frame plate 60 andhas a gear part 62 that cooperates with a ring gear means 63 of theindicating drum 49 to be rotated thereby at a certain rate as the drum49 is rotated by the gear 48 previously described. The pinion gearmember 61 has another gear part 64 that cooperates with a plurality ofpins 65 that are disposed in a circular array on the indicating drum 50and extend substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of theindicating drum 50 while being concentric therewith so that as the gearmember 61 rotates, the same rotates the indicating drum 50 at the properrate.

The indicating drum 49 has a plurality of pins 66 extending from theside 67 thereof and disposed in a circular array concentric to the shaft59 and substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum 49 soas to be disposed in meshing relation with the drive gear 48 asillustrated in FIG. 4.

The drums 49 and 50 are respectively held on the shaft 59 afterinitially being telescoped thereon by suitable C-shaped retainers 68carried by the shaft 59 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 10. Therefore, itcan be seen that the indicating drums 49 and 50 can be easily mounted tothe shaft 59 of the frame plate 60 and the pinion gear 61 for providingthe incremental drive therebetween can be easily assembled to the frameplate 60 by being slipped down a slot 69 formed therein and be held inplace by the cooperating gear means 63 and 65 of the indicating drums 49and 50.

The operation of the minute digital timer means 28 will now bedescribed.

When the operator desires to utilize the minute digital timer means 28to time an operation for a particular period of time, such as for l hourand 34 minutes as illustrated in FIG. 1, the operator grasps theselected knob 42 and rotates the selector shaft 42 in the desireddirection so that the gear 45 through its meshing relation with its gear46 turns the shaft 47 and, thus, the gear 48 to act on the pins 66 ofthe indicator drum 49 to rotate the indicator drum 49. As the indicatordrum 49 is thus rotated, the ring gear 63 thereof will cause the pinionmember 61 to cause rotation of the drum 50 until the desired time periodis indicated at the window 58 at which time the operator releases theselector knob 42'.

As previously stated, while the selector knob 42' is being rotated toset the time period at the window 58, the latch member 53 is moved awayfrom the driving gear dog 51 and the driving gear dog 51 is moveddownwardly by the compression spring 52 to place the gear portion 54thereof in meshing relation with the gear 55 so that the driving geardog SI is now interconnected to the drive pinion gear 38 of the drivemotor 39. Rotation of the driving gear dog 51 now begins and the drivingtooth 51' thereof incrementally drives the gear 48 each time the drivinggear dog 51 makes a complete revolution and such movement of the gear 48acts through the pins 66 of the indicating drum 49 to incrementallydrive the drum 49 and, thus, through the proper time relation of thepinion gear 61 drives the indicating drum 50 back toward the zeroposition thereof. When such zero or time run out position is reached bythe drums 49 and S to indicate that the previously preset time periodhas now lapsed, the driving gear dog 51 is moved upwardly in oppositionto the force of the compression spring 52 to the position illustrated inFIG. 4 by the spring 42' as the latch means 42" is moved to anunlatching position thereof whereby the driving gear dog 51 is out ofmeshing relation with the gear 48 and the gear 55 so that the indicatingdrums 49 and 50 remain in their zero indicating positions until theoperator again selects a time period in the manner previously described,the latch means 53 being moved back into latching position with the dog51 by the member 48.

The cooking hours digital timer means 29 is similar to the minutedigital timer means 28 previously described except that a longer periodof time can be selected for the timer means 29. Thus, parts of the timermeans 29 that are similar to the timer means 28 previously described areindicated by like reference numerals followed by the letter A."

Referring now to FIG. 5, the digital timer means 29 includes theselector shaft 42A having the selector knob 42A on the outer end thereoffor driving through the gear 45A, pinion gear 46A, shaft 47A and gear48A the time indicating drums 49A and 50A which are rotatably mounted ona single shaft 59A carried by the frame plate 60 for time selectionpurposes.

However, the drum 49A of the timer means 29 has time indicating minutesfrom 0 to 55 minutes disposed thereon in increments of minutes whereasthe drum 49 of the timer means 28 merely had the minutes indicatedthereon from 0 to 9 in increments of 1.

Likewise. the drum 50A of the timer means 29 has hours indicated thereonin increments of one whereas the drum 50 of the timer means 28 had hoursdisposed thereon in increments of Is as well as the l0s of minutesdisposed thereon in increment of 10.

The driving dog 51A of the selector shaft 42A of the timer means 29 hasa gear portion 70 adapted to be disposed in meshing relation with adriving dog 7] carried by the shaft 56 below the gear 55 thereof whenthe driving dog 51A is adapted to be moved downwardly by the force ofthe compression spring 52A when the latch member 53A is moved away fromthe driving dog 51A so that the driving dog 71 will incrementally drivethe driving dog 51A which, in turn, will incrementally drive the drivegear 48A for the indicating drums 49A and 50A.

If it is desired to limit the amount of time that can be selected forthe timer means 29, the pins 65A of the indicating drum 50A need notextend in a complete circular array so that an unpinned portion 72 ofthe indicator drum 50A will provide stop means 73 and 74 at the opposedends thereof to prevent further movement of the drum 50A by the piniongear member 61A at those extreme limits of the drum 50A.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, it can be seen that the pinion gearmember 61A can readily be assembled to the frame plate 60 by first beingdisposed in an enlarged opening 75 formed through the plate 60 beforethe same is slipped down into a cooperating slot means 69A for rotatablymounting the pinion gear member 61A to the plate 60.

Since the operation of the digital cooking hour timer means 29 isidentical to the operation of the digital minute timer means 28previously described except that the indicating means 49A and 50Apresent a different appearance of time relation at the window 58Athereof as illustrated in FIG. 1, the operation of the cooking hourtimer means 29 need not be described as the same has the period of timethereof set by the selector knob 42A thereof in the same manner as thetimer 28 and the indicating drums 49A and 50A are then driven back tothe zero or time run out position thereof by the timer motor 39 in themanner previously described as the gear 48A is incrementally moved underthe drive of the drive motor 39.

Also, it is to be fully understood from the aforementioned copendingpatent applications, that the timer means 29 will operate a cookingapparatus to cook an item for the time period that is selected at thewindow 58A thereof by the selector knob 42A whereas the timer means 28can operate a light switch or bell at the end of the selected timeperiod thereof for timing purposes if desired.

Therefore, it can be seen that this invention not only provides animproved digital timer means, but also this invention provides improveddigital time indicating drum means for such a timer means or the like.

While the form of the invention now preferred has been illustrated anddescribed as required by the Patent Statute, it is to be understood thatother forms can be utilized and still come within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a frame means, shaft means carried by said framemeans, and a pair of digital time indicating drums rotatably mounted tosaid frame means by said shaft means, said drums having meanscooperating together so that one of said drums will cause incrementalmovement of the other drum in a timed relation to incremental movementof said one drum, said cooperating means comprising a pinion-like gearmeans rotatably mounted to said frame means intermediate said drums,said one drum having drive means operatively associated with said gearmeans to drive the same as said one drum is rotated, said other drumhaving driven means operatively associated with said gear means to bedriven thereby in a timed relation to the incremental movement of saidone drum, said one drum having driven means to be driven by drive meanswhen interconnected thereto, said driven means of said one drumcomprising a plurality of pins extending in a circular array from saidone drum substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said onedrum, said drive means that drives said pins of said one drum comprisinga gear rotatably mounted to said frame means to rotate about an axissubstantially transverse to said axis of rotation of said one drum andmeshing with certain of said pins.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said drive means ofsaid one drum comprises ring gear means carried by said one drum anddisposed in meshing relation with said pinion gear means.

3. A combination as set forth in claim I wherein said driven means ofsaid other drum comprises a plurality of pins extending in a circulararray from said other drum substantially parallel to the axis ofrotation of said other drum.

4. A combination as set forth in claim I wherein said shaft meanscomprises a single shaft carrying said drums in side-by-sicle relation.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein another shaft means iscarried by said frame means and another pair of digital time indicatordrums are rotatably mounted to said frame means by said shaft means.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said other shaft meanscomprises a single shaft carrying said other pair of drums inside-by-side relation.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein one of said drums ofone of said pairs thereof indicates minstruction.

1. In combination, a frame means, shaft means carried by said framemeans, and a pair of digital time indicating drums rotatably mounted tosaid frame means by said shaft means, said drums having meanscooperating together so that one of said drums will cause incrementalmovement of the other drum in a timed relation to incremental movementof said one drum, said cooperating means comprising a pinion-like gearmeans rotatably mounted to said frame means intermediate said drums,said one drum having drive means operatively associated with said gearmeans to drive the same as said one drum is rotated, said other drumhaving driven means operatively associated with said gear means to bedriven thereby in a timed relation to the incremental movement of saidone drum, said one drum having driven means to be driven by drive meanswhen interconnected thereto, said driven means of said one drumcomprising a plurality of pins extending in a circular array from saidone drum substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said onedrum, said drive means that drives said pins of said one drum comprisinga gear rotatably mounted to said frame means to rotate about an axissubstantially transverse to said axis of rotation of said one drum andmeshing with certain of said pins.
 2. A combination as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said drive means of said one drum comprises ring gearmeans carried by said one drum and disposed in meshing relation withsaid pinion gear means.
 3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid driven means of said other drum comprises a plurality of pinsextending in a circular array from said other drum substantiallyparallel to the axis of rotation of said other drum.
 4. A combination asset forth in claim 1 wherein said shaft means comprises a single shaftcarrying said drums in side-by-side relation.
 5. A combination as setforth in claim 1 wherein another shaft means is carried by said framemeans and another pair of digital time indicator drums are rotatablymounted to said frame means by said shaft means.
 6. A combination as setforth in claim 5 wherein said other shaft means comprises a single shaftcarrying said other pair of drums in side-by-side relation.
 7. Acombination as set forth in claim 5 wherein one of said drums of one ofsaid pairs thereof indicates minutes from 0 to 9 in increments of onesand the other drum thereof indicates increments of hours in incrementsof 1''s and 10''s of minutes in increments of 10''s.
 8. A combination asset forth in claim 5 wherein one of said drums of one of said pairsthereof indicates minutes from 0 to 55 in increments of 5 minutes andthe other drum thereof indicates increments of hours in increments of1''s.
 9. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said two pairs ofdrums are substantially identical in construction.